Some calgunners thought I’m a “collector”, however, I’m not. I just went through guns to see if I like them. I’m just sick and tired of listening to others (especially “the guy behind the counter”) saying what’s good and not. Some do not know what they’re talking about, and some, with limited experience of 1-2 firearms, speak shamelessly about what they know. I buy as many guns as I can, tried them, then decide if they’re worthy to be kept. Good thing this hobby is not as costly as cars. I can easily have more than a few at once, in addition, changing a set of grips does not cost as crazy as changing a set of rims. And it’s not as costly as sound systems either. I was a sound engineer in a Christian church for more than 10 years. I know how much a good set of speakers can cost, as well as those special “cables”, using gold or mercury.

I’m only into shotguns and handguns. You can put tons of rounds into shotguns and it will last a long time. People just don’t shoot handguns much (and I can tell approximately how many rounds have gone through the gun, just by looking at the bluing and handling marks, based on my experience with guns). On the other hand, rifles are different. Due to much higher speed of rifle rounds, one needs to replace the barrel after a few thousand rounds. Also, some people shoot rifles until the barrel gets red. Another thing with rifles is that it’s much harder to sell a rifle than a handgun.

There are some guns I’ve been looking for years. Heckler and Koch Mark 23, for example, took me approximately 10 years (unfortunately, I didn’t know the existence of Calguns until 3 years ago, or else, I would have found it earlier). It was a good gun, however, too big for my hands. Sold the Mark 23 a few months ago.

This Korth took me more than 10 years. I already forgot how long it has been, maybe 15 years or more. I can’t remember how I got into it either. Spent a long time looking for one, and the result is always nada. Just last year, I took it off my “wanted” list, telling myself that it’s impossible to find this gun in California. I even thought of the SSE way, however, didn’t want to modify a gun like this. I still remember the minute I saw the gun: I almost fell out of the chair. Then spent the next few hours trying to see how I could fund this gun. A Korth is not cheap.

Like the way I acquire other guns, I obtained the fund by selling some. Surprisingly, I was able to sell a Beretta DT10 and acquired majority of the funds. Thanks again Calguns, could not do it without the amazing speed of selling/acquiring guns from the free listing in the classified sections.

I was shocked that not a lot of people know about Korth. Being through many forums, and the majority of the question is either Sig vs HK vs Glock vs FN vs Steyer vs CZ vs whatever. I don’t want to go into the history of a company. Just keep in mind that the founder, Willi Korth, set out to make the best revolver.

Germany is well known for its steel (and/or how they forge the steel). A gunsmith I know for years, told me how difficult (and how long) it would take him to cut a HK barrel. On the other hand, when cutting through some barrels made by other companies, it was like cutting butter (I do not want to start another thread of endless thread debate, thus, won’t mention which ones here). Korth, if one googles it, s/he will easily find the following:

“All Korth Arms feature specially selected high alloy steels. For example, all important revolver components such as the frame, crane and even the sideplate are completely milled from drop forgings. After machining operations, all components are subjected to a proprietary process to achieve a surface hardness of up to 60 HRc (Rockwell c scale) … Approximately 600 individual operations are required to manufacture one revolver. Of these operations, only about 30 percent are actual machine work. The rest, all of 70 percent, are true ‘man hours’…”

Each Korth was made with precision. One chambered in .357 Magnum cannot fire the .38 Special rounds, unless you use it with a cylinder specially made for .38 Speical. Some .357 magnum revolvers were also made with a 9x19mm cylinder.

Willi Korth guaranteed the accuracy of his revolvers to maintain the same after 50,000 rounds of full-powered .357 Magnum ammo. Who else can do that?

If you google Korth, you’ll find that numerous people made measurements on several revolvers after shooting continuously hundreds of rounds. The diameter of the cylinder bores was uniform in the Korth while it varied in revolvers made by other manufacturers. Also, the barrel to cylinder gap of Korth’s remained unchanged and the gap widened in other revolvers.

Break down of cylinder: as simple as pressing a button and take it out. This is how a revolver, no matter single action or double action, should be made. Why can’t they make it simple for double action to remove the cylinder like single actions? Speaking of this, I just recalled an incident that I posted before regarding how one can remove the cylinder from a Colt Python and clean the gun very well. The same can apply to majority of Colt double action revolvers. There was a calgunner, who claimed more than 40+ years of experience with firearms, claiming I gave false information, etc. All the bull**** went away after I posted a video showing how it was done. If one can remove the cylinder from a single action for cleaning, one should remove the cylinder from a double action. Up until this moment I still don’t get, why is “timing” mentioned? If one worries about the timing of the action, then s/he should worry when opening the cylinder to reload. Taking the cylinder out won’t affect anything. Details here: http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/s...d.php?t=417236
Unfortunately, I don’t know if you can do it to a Smith & Wesson. I only had a Model 36 for a short period of time and I didn’t do much to the gun. Back to the topic, Korth did it. It’s very simple to take down the cylinder within 1-2 seconds. Yes, seconds!

The trigger pull of this Korth is smooth and solid. Did I mention that you can change the trigger pull by using a screw driver? You can do this on a Korth!

Enough of words, more pictures on this Korth 3-in Combat Revolver in .357 Magnum:

The moment the idea is admitted into society, that property is not as sacred as the laws of God, and that there is not a force of law and public justice to protect it, anarchy and tyranny commence.' and that `Property is surely a right of mankind as real as liberty.'- John Adamshttp://www.usdebtclock.org/

As for the button shown here in front of the trigger, under the roll mark:

Press it to remove the cylinder from the gun.

For the Colt Python, it had the trigger job, jeweled trigger, and jeweled hammer done and sights replaced. The grips were custom made Detective Grips with finger grooves, medallions and checkering from Herrett's Stocks, Inc.

Unfortunately, I don't know how long it took for the work. I bought the gun "as is". According to the previous owner, Mr. Jim Hoag of Hoag Gun Works did all the work.

I think it all depends on who did the work and if anyone appreciates it and willing to pay for it. There are some guns, whose value actually appreciated, after being worked on by famous gunsmiths.

I've had close to 100 guns (sold/traded majority of them) in the past 15+ years. I can tell you that this Python has the smoothest trigger ever. In single action mode, it's smoother than my 1911's. In double action mode, I almost shed tears when I tried it: it was smooooooth!

The python was only tested fired, by Colt when it was manufactured in the year of 1980. I don't know if Mr. Jim Hoag fired it after worked on the gun. Otherwise, it was only dry-fired.

As for the stock, it was precision made. To order one, you'll need to send them a drawing of your hand and they'll make the grips based on your drawing. Previous owner ordered this set of grips, fortunately for me, it fits me very well.

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✟ In the beginning was the 1911, and the 1911 was THE pistol, and it was good. And behold the Lord said, "Thou shalt not muck with my disciple John's design for it is good and it workith. For John made the 1911, and lo all of his weapons, from the designs which I, the Lord, gave him upon the mountain."✟

fennecfrank, thank you very much for sharing your impressive collection of firearms here and in other threads. I find your posts interesting and informative (and quite inspirational, too) as I build out my own collection.

Nice find. I've been lusting after a Korth for a long time. Although to be honest, it's now way down on my priority list, as I'm longer shooting double action. Instead, we bought another fine example of German engineering (not made from steel, but from brass, and much much larger than a Korth).

How many Korth revolvers are there in California? Other than the OP, I only know one person in the state who owns Korths in this state (and I won't mention his name, since he is not able to participate in this forum). I don't know whether there are any in the bay area.